In a Dark Hallway
by The Legend of Rune Factory
Summary: Zelda has had a hollow, lonely feeling inside ever since she was a small child. When she joins the SSB roster, she sees it as a chance of change. But, things aren't going well. Fed up and depressed, she meets someone unexpected in the hallway to her room.


**A/N: Hey there! Glad you took the time to click on this. This is just a quick little one-shot that only comes to mind at eleven at night. So, anyway, enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own anything. **

* * *

There was never anything she hadn't gotten: the finest toys, the latest in fashion, the best education that money could buy. Yet, she still felt drastically hollow and depressed.

When she was younger, the royal physicians merely dismissed it as improper eating. The king and queen had exotic foods imported from far away countries to satisfy her finicky stomach. She pretended that it worked, for their sakes.

As she grew into her early teens, she thought that she found the source to her problem: loneliness. There weren't any other children her age in the castle. Her parents were always working on making the country a better place, so they were never there for her. This, she realized, was why she would often stare outside her window during the day and watch all the other people her age dash around the market place in fun. They would sit and talk and laugh and have a great time.

Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, desperately wanted to join in on that fun.

Yet she kept growing. Soon she realized that she was just being paranoid and grew out of that phase, no matter how strongly the feeling was still there. So, when the invitation to join the third Smash Brothers tournament came in, she gladly accepted.

When she walked into the giant mansion, led by the floating glove known as Master Hand, she gasped in wonderment. There were _people_ here. People and animals her age, a little younger, some older. But the main thing that she was concerned about was that they were there.

_All right,_ she told herself on day one, _there are friendships to be made and people to meet. And hopefully that dreadful feeling will finally go away…_

She did make friends, and quite a few at that. Princess Peach was her chief friend, the one that she could tell anything to and laugh with and just have a good all-around time. She also reunited with Link, whom she recognized from her home country of Hyrule.

But the feeling never left her.

She finally recognized the root of the problem after Peach began talking about Mario, her boyfriend. Zelda wanted an intimate relationship. She wanted…love.

"Peach," said she one day, interrupting the latest thing that the mustached plumber had done, "how does one get another to fall in love?"

"What are you saying, Zel?"

Zelda explained the queer feeling that she had had since she was small. Peach listened intently. After the tale was done, the mushroom princess tapped her chin lightly, daintily. "Gee, I don't know. I guess it just…happens. Of course, Mario's saved my life so many times; it was just natural for us. Why don't you try Link? He's saved you a lot before!"

"Nay, Peach, he isn't interested in anyone at the moment. I overheard him talking to Marth, and he said so." Zelda sighed heavily. "Perhaps I am not meant for this?"

"That's ridiculous! No one's not meant for love!"

"That was a double negative, Peach."

Peach raised an eyebrow. "Fine then, I meant to say that everyone is meant for love at least once in their lifetime."

"That's better."

She smiled. "In the meantime, we need to find you a boyfriend! Come on, Zel!" She dragged her friend out into the hallway. The pink princess figured that, since the majority of Smash Mansion was inhabited by men, finding one princess a boy that she could relate to on an intimate scale wouldn't be too hard.

Needless to say, she was dreadfully wrong.

Zelda was just out of luck. Marth said that he was already married; Link told them that he just wasn't interested; Mario was taken; Sonic and Snake were too busy fighting over Samus, who was readying her paralyzer gun to shoot them both with a strong jolt of electricty to stun them temporarily so she could escape them; Ganondorf was plotting his next scheme to take over Hyrule, and thus, as he put it, "It would be much too strange if I were dating my nemesis.". The list went on, as each man had a reason not to date the princess (provided that the girls found him and asked).

So the two princesses trudged sadly and tiredly back to Peach's bedroom, where she tried to console the depressed young woman. "Don't worry about it. They'll get over themselves and then they'll see what they're missing!"

The Princess of Hyrule sighed deeply. "Peach, 'tis hopeless. I am going to my room to think upon this. Good night." She stood up, smoothed out her dress, and walked to the door.

"Night, Zel. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow."

"Nay. Nay, Princess Peach, nay. We are most certainly _not_ going to try again tomorrow." Zelda opened the door and after she stepped out she shut it much harder than needed.

She walked down the hallway to where the Hyrulian rooms were. Her movements were stiff with anger; her posture rigid with feigned stability of her emotions. One man, however, saw through it.

"Zelda, what's up?" He touched her arm lightly.

She looked away, honey-brown hair flopping in her face. "Do leave me be, Ike. I am not in the mood."

"Well, I am."

"That is not what I said. Leave me alone, mercenary." Her voice was cold and sharp, like Link's Master Sword.

He removed his hand from her arm. "As you wish, milady." He bowed slightly as she stomped by. As she was turning the corner, he called, "You looked in the wrong men, today, Princess. You looked in the wrong men."

She stopped, considering his words. "What?" She whispered back at him hoarsely.

"You didn't ask enough people." In the dark hallway, she could see a smile grace his usually hard features.

"What, pray tell, are you trying to say?" She walked back to him.

"You only had to keep asking and you would've come to me."

She felt his warm hands encase hers. She inhaled sharply in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago."

He gave her a moment to register his words, another moment to take a breath, and then he claimed her lips. He had dreamed of this. Of making the Princess Zelda his own. Ever since she walked in, radiance and calm emanating from her being, he knew. He knew that she was the one.

She, oddly, didn't feel the urge to push away. There was no urge to slap him. There wasn't any urge at all, except… Except to keep this wonderful thing going as long as she could.

After several seconds (or minutes; they couldn't tell), Zelda pulled away from him. "Why did you do that?"

"Because, Zelda, I love you." She saw that glorious smile again.

"Excellent." She laid her head against his chest as he held her close. Finally. After all those years, the feeling was gone. She felt loved, and loved by someone to whom she felt the same.

* * *

**So there you have it. An SSBB one-shot of the Zike pairing. By the way, no, this isn't for the Valentine's Day contest, becuase I don't believe in joining contests. Sorry. I guess, however, that I could easily join in the contest... But don't count on it. **

**That aside, review if you have the time! I enjoy reading feedback from you.**

**-LoRF**


End file.
